Our critics discuss Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story.

Our critics discuss Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story.

Our critics discuss Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story.

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Sept. 20 2010 7:08 AM

The Audio Book Club on Super Sad True Love Story

Our critics discuss Gary Shteyngart's new novel.

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To listen to the Slate Audio Book Club discussion of Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story, click the arrow on the player below.

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This month, Troy Patterson, Jody Rosen, and Jacob Weisberg discuss Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart's follow-up to his popular Absurdistan. Set in near-future New York, middle-aged Lenny Abramov decides he's never going to die. He's pretty well positioned not to, since he works for the "Post-Human Services" division of a corporation that extends the life of its (wealthy) customers, pretty much indefinitely. He also plans to sustain himself with the love of Eunice Park, a younger Korean woman.

The novel is a romance, and a satire, and also a work of science fiction. The writing is at times hyper-caffeinated, at times intensely lyrical. It's fun to read but also presents a disturbing vision of the near-future. Our critics, perhaps you've gathered, find Super Sad hard to pin down.

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Slate's Audio Book Club comes to you on the third Monday of every month. Look for our next discussion on iTunes or on the Slatehome page on Monday, Oct. 18. Also, like the Audio Book Club on Facebook.

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Troy Patterson is Slate’s writer at large and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine.

Jody Rosen is critic at large for T: The New York Times Style Magazine.

Jacob Weisberg is chairman and editor-in-chief of The Slate Group and author of The Bush Tragedy. Follow him on Twitter.